A vehicle system is a system that includes one or more vehicles. A vehicle consist is one example of a vehicle system that includes two or more vehicles that are coupled or linked together to travel along a route. One example of a vehicle system is a train having one or more locomotive consists. Locomotives in a consist can include a lead locomotive and one or more trail locomotives. A train will have at least one lead consist, and may also have one or more remote consists positioned further back in the train.
A vehicle system can include a number of different electro-mechanical and electrical systems. These systems include a plurality of different electronic components, which process or otherwise utilize data/information for operational purposes. Examples of electronic components in a vehicle system include data and voice radios and other communication equipment, positioning equipment (e.g., global positioning system, or GPS, components), data and video recorders, engine control systems, navigation equipment, and on-board computer and other computer systems.
Some vehicles in a vehicle system may be outfitted with various functional components, such as throttling, steering and brake systems, as well as traction control systems. The brake systems onboard the same vehicle system can include different types of brakes, such as air brakes and electronically controlled pneumatic brakes. The brake systems may each include serial connections with a controller of the vehicle system. The controller may control operations of the brake systems via the serial connections. Due to the limited data bandwidth and speed of these serial connections, the controller may be limited on how the brake systems are controlled. The controller also may have serial and/or wireless connections with other control systems onboard the vehicle system that control other operations of the vehicle system. But, due to the limited bandwidth, speed, and/or reliability of these connections, the amount and/or type of data that can be communicated between the controller and the control systems may be limited.